Congratulations to RHS English and AP Language teacher Mike Hill on being named the Texas AcDec Coach of the Year!
Hill has been coaching the Richardson High School Academic Decathlon team since 2012 and has led the team to 12 consecutive state appearances. “Mike is coaching goals. He is generous and insightful, a cheerleader for all, and a perfect example of sportsmanship,” Lake Highlands AcDec coach Casey Boland said.
Please click here for a video of the announcement that includes some quotes from the nominations Coach Hill received.
“Academic Decathlon is unique in its approach because it mandates that all teams recruit students with different GPAs,” Coach Hill said. “In order to compete, each team is required to have a group of students who make A’s, a group of students who make B’s, and a group of students who make C’s. This places students from different backgrounds in the same room, on the same team, working towards the same goal. While they compete by taking individual tests, those scores are added together to form the school’s overall score. This means it is in the team’s best interest to make sure they are working together to understand the material. What I greatly appreciate is how the students who join the program tend to have geeky interests and are amazing in so many ways.”
Coach Hill said his co-coach, RHS math teacher Sara Korotkow, has been vital in helping maintain the culture and success of the RHS AcDec team.
“I’ve come to realize that there are two roles we fill as coaches,” Hill said. “The first is to help the students learn the material to meet the goal of advancing to the state competition. The second role is how we help students overcome challenges that I would have never imagined they are facing. We have helped students who suffered through the loss of a parent, helped students navigate their own health scares, helped students overcome massive financial hardships, helped students escape troubling situations. Some of these kisa are the students who would fall through the cracks. Together, Sara and I have been able to affect the lives of students in ways I could not have imagined.”
Congrats again Mike, and to Sara, as well. Every child, every day. #RISDGreatness
